


Mosquitoes

by CosmicCthulhu



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Auror Draco Malfoy, Banter, Blood, Blood Magic, By far the worst summary to date, F/M, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Humor, I'm Bad At Summaries, Ministry of Magic Employee Hermione Granger, Pining Hermione Granger, Vampires, dramione - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-05
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-19 02:27:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29867748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CosmicCthulhu/pseuds/CosmicCthulhu
Summary: Hermione is captured by vampires, and she has to deal with more than just one blood-thirsty creature.Excerpt:“Too bad I left all my garlic powder back at home,” The woman huffed under her breath, listening to the sound of the music and chatter in the ballroom. If she could see in the dark, she was sure she’d be staring at an elegant and elaborate waltz full of pale and disfigured creatures.“Why would you need garlic?” Malfoy asked, and Hermione was sure that the man had raised an eyebrow at her.“It’s a muggle thing,” She merely shrugged, but the man seemed to be even more confused at that explanation.“That explains nothing.”“And I don’t suppose that if I transfigure this metal bar into a cross the vampires are going to burn to death either, will they?” She asked with a mocking tone, and when the wizard said nothing in return, puzzled, which prompted her to add with a chuckle. “Yeah, I figured that much.”
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy
Comments: 2
Kudos: 37





	Mosquitoes

**Author's Note:**

> Dedicated to the mosquitoes that are currently eating me alive rn :,D
> 
> English is not my first language, and this work is unbeta'd so all errors are my own.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Harry Potter franchise.

"Oh, bummer," Hermione sighed, sitting down on the murky floor of what she assumed was an underground prison cell. It was hard to tell where exactly she was, considering that there were no windows or any sort of light anywhere in the castle she was now trapped in. 

Furthermore, the walls, floors and overall layout of the place kept changing and morphing anyway, so she had no hope of ever finding out where she was. And of course, there was an anti-apparition charm placed on the whole castle, to stop her from running off even if she had her wand in hands.

The witch figured she’d find a way out of that mess eventually, it’s not like she was going to give up and stop fighting just like that! Still, the enchanted walls and lack of light were a nuisance she certainly wasn’t fond of and they certainly hindered her ability to properly make up an escape plan. 

Hermione groaned out of frustration, cursing herself for stubbornly refusing an auror escort for this mission. In hindsight, that hadn’t been her brightest moment to date. Even if she reasoned that the vampires would be understandably offended by her lack of trust in them.  


And now all she could now was muse about her less than ideal situation she stuck in. Letting her mind wonder for just a second, how would Harry, Ron, Ginny and other friends react when she didn’t show up at the pub for their Friday Trivia Nights or when she didn’t return for Sunday's lunch at the Burrow. 

Would they think of looking for her? 

She had told them about the mission, granted, she wasn’t worried about it at all at the beginning, nor were her friends. Strangely enough, Malfoy, of all people, was the only one of the group that had warned her that she could get in trouble if she were to mess with vampires. ( _Thought it was even stranger that the handsome blond wizard had even become her close friend in the first place_ ).

The mission had started simple enough. As an employee of the Beings Division in her department, Hermione was tasked to settle some diplomatic relations and a census of the relatively small and self-contained Scottish vampire population. 

In addition, they had just ended their hibernation period and were due to start their ritualistic celebrations of Spring, and the witch was particularly interested in learning and observing the inner workings of their secretive rituals - that is, until she learned a little too late that she was going to play a  _ big _ part in the final feast.

She had arrived at the seemingly abandoned castle with a confident smile and all her research papers and notebooks stashed away in her beaded bag, ready to do her job. A vampire envoy was sent to greet her at the door, and although the creature was horrendous to look at ( _with a sickly pale and paper-thin skin, a hunchback, pointed ears, curved claws, shark-like teeth and terrifying red blood-shot eyes_ ) he was very polite, cooperative and  _ surprisingly _ funny and charming to talk to.

The envoy had insisted to Hermione that she needed to enter the castle and properly meet the other vampires so that she could do her job properly. He told her that she’d be treated like the most respected guest at their home and that it was a unique opportunity, impossible to refuse. 

In hindsight, that overgrown leech had probably manipulated her mind and tricked her into accepting the invitation. Hermione grumbled under her breath, cursing herself once again, for not preparing better for the possibility of a trap.

As soon as the heavy metal doors shut behind her, leaving her in complete darkness, the brunette knew she was going to die. 

She didn’t even scream or cry when she felt dozens of hands suddenly grabbing her by the waist, legs and arms and dragging her away into that stone labyrinth. With hundreds of voices chanting, about the delicious blood they were going to feast on during the Vernal Equinox.

But honestly, if she had to blame anyone for her impending demise, it would be her boss. 

After all, the Head of the department was the one that confidently proclaimed that the mission wasn’t dangerous at all. He had assured her multiple times that those vampires were ‘ _far too picky about their prey's blood for you to be in any real danger. They eat for pleasure, not necessity, silly girl. Your blood is certainly not good enough for them!_ ’

' _Sweet, untouched, and plentiful_ ,' is how the vampires had described it, instead. Whatever  _ that _ meant.

Who would have guessed that hers was exactly the type of blood the vampires desired and craved the most? 

So for a second, Hermione could bask at the satisfaction of proving, once again, that her blood was just as worthy for the magical world as any other pureblood’s blood - even if it was measured by how appetizing it was.

She batted away in irritation at another pesky mosquito that had flown too close to her ear, with their annoying buzzing. The cramped and humid dungeon she was now stuck in seemed to be swarmed by these blasted annoying insects. 

If the vampires didn't suck her dry, the mosquitoes certainly would.

She heard the sound of a heavy door opening in the distance, letting the sounds of classical music and lively chatter fill the quiet dungeons for a second or two, until the door closed again. Maybe she was finally going to be herded into the kitchens to have her blood drained and meat cooked.

Bloody hell, that’d be an awful way to go. She needed a plan. Quick.

With a bit of desperate wandless magic, she conjured her blue flames so that she could at least  _ see _ what was going on. She cringed at the sight of how dirty and muddy the floor she was sitting really was, but well, the lack of basic hygiene was the least of her problems. 

The brunette grabbed the metal bars, tugging at them slightly, until she found one loose enough for her to yank and tug away from the rest. It didn’t give her enough space to wiggle out of the cage, but it did give her a sharp metal bar for her to thrust into her predator’s flesh or bash their skulls, should the need arise.

‘ _Get rid of the incoming vampire, steal his key. Find my beaded bag and my wand and get the hell out of here_ _ , _ ’ she repeated the plan like a mantra inside her head, holding the metal bar tightly in her hands, and ignoring the annoying mosquitos that got tangled in her puffed up and frizzy hair.

She listened to the sound of heavy thuds with a bated breath. Even though she knew that the vampires of the higher hierarchy were quite tall and powerful, she figured that it was going to be one of the frail and hunchback servants that was going to bring her upstairs, much like the envoy that had greeted her at the castle’s door.

A pale and tall figure suddenly appeared from the entrance of the dungeons and Hermione couldn’t help but flinch and let out a barely contained shriek in horror, thinking that the vampire fetching her for the dinner was going to be a six, almost seven feet  _ hunk _ . There would be no way of just overpowering that thing without magic.

She started to prepare herself and gather all of her strength to use the metal bar against his head, but then she heard Malfoy’s voice snarking back at her.

“Merlin, Granger! Shut up unless you want the entire court of vampires to come down here and murder us!”

“Malfoy!” She gasped, clutching the metal bar and narrowing her eyes in an attempt to see better with the faint blue fire. “You scared the hell out of me! You’re just as pale and lanky as them!”

She bit her lip, attempting to hide away her relieved smile. Malfoy had always been a sight for sore eyes, but right now, the auror was truly the most divine view she could think of. Even if said auror was currently glaring and scoffing at her.

“How about not insulting the guy that’s rescuing you right now?”

She breathed out a high pitched snigger, with a tremble in her voice that revealed how nervous and scared she truly was, though she would never admit to that fact. 

“Oh, I don’t need to be rescued! Can’t you see that I’m in complete control of the situation?” She motioned to the impromptu weapon she was holding, but she completely lacked conviction in her voice. In fact, she decided to say that only for the sake of continuing her eternal banter with the wizard.

"Oh?” He smirked, approaching the cage and knocking at the metal bars. “Would you prefer if I left, then?”

“No, absolutely not,” Hermione added quickly with panic in her voice, but then smiled when she heard the sound of the unlocking charm being cast at the opening. 

“You have no idea how glad I am to see you,” she got out of the cage and stretched out her cramped muscles, groaning in pain and trying to figure out how long she had been sitting still in that little space.

“I told you not to deal with vampires alone,” Malfoy grumbled under his breath, casting a quick unfamiliar spell that soothed away her aching legs. “I knew I should have just tagged along.”

“I didn’t actually think they would try to eat me!” And truthfully, the vampires themselves admitted that the chances of them finding that ‘ _perfect brand of blood_ ’ were extremely low. The eldest of the court had even recalled that their last feeding was half a century ago.

“Right, now let’s get out of here,” he grabbed her by the wrist, walking back into the dungeon’s entrance and down the hall, but then he yelped in pain and surprise when he slammed his own face against a heavy stone wall, grumbling under his breath something that sounded like ‘ _there was a doorway here before_ ’.

“The walls keep changing,” she offered as an off comment and the man scoffed at her side, as if he didn’t believe her.

Malfoy used his wand to summon more flames to illuminate the walls better, and the dim blue lights helped them see that the hallways had indeed changed their layout, much to their dismay.

“Bloody hell,” Hermione muttered, making her way down the hall and towards the only doorway available. Still getting furiously annoyed by the mosquitoes that lingered near her “I still need to get my wand and beaded bag back!”

“How, wonderful! This is going to be difficult, considering that there’s hundreds of thirsty vampires wandering around.”

“But I did hear that they were going to store it somewhere,” Hermione sighed, trying to remember the words of the envoy when he was asked where he was going to keep her belongings. “I’m pretty sure it’s hidden somewhere in a room, rather than being in a vampire’s coat pocket.”

“Fine, then, but if there’s trouble, we make a run for it,” he conceded with a disgruntled sigh.

The sound of music echoed from afar, and the witch had briefly and quietly explained to the wizard the basic events of the Vernal Equinox. “From what I heard, they mostly dance all night, have a feast and then partake in some… bonding ceremonies.”

“Not that different from pureblooded balls, actually,” The man chuckled, while the brunette stared at him in disbelief and slight flush of embarrassment in her cheeks, that was thankfully hidden by the darkness. 

They snuck around the luxurious labyrinth, careful to avoid most of the few dwelling servants that occasionally scurried around the halls and making sure to stick to the empty corridors and rooms. 

Though the vampires were blind, and mostly guided themselves through sounds and smells, Hermione couldn’t help but admire the elegantly and exorbitantly decorated walls and rooms of their castle. Each room was filled with marble statues, priceless paintings, fine linens, colorful tapestry and several furniture packed full of jewelry and ornaments.

It was certainly beautiful and impressive, but it also hindered their efforts in finding her beaded bag and wand, much to her dismay.

“Too bad I left all my garlic powder back at home,” The woman huffed under her breath, listening to the sound of the music and chatter in the ballroom. If she could see in the dark, she was sure she’d be staring at an elegant and elaborate waltz full of pale and disfigured creatures.

“Why would you need garlic?” Malfoy asked, and Hermione was sure that the man had raised an eyebrow at her.

“It’s a muggle thing,” She merely shrugged, but the man seemed to be even more confused at that explanation.

“That explains nothing.” 

“And I don’t suppose that if I transfigure this metal bar into a cross the vampires are going to burn to death either, will they?” She asked with a mocking tone, and when the wizard said nothing in return, puzzled, which prompted her to add with a chuckle. “Yeah, I figured that much.”

“Remind me to ask about muggle’s views on vampires if we manage to get out of this mess,” Malfoy grumbled after a second, as the pair made their way into yet more convoluted rooms filled with extravagant furnishings.

The thought of Hermione showing the man books and movies such as ‘ _Dracula_ ’ and explaining to him all the mythology and beliefs surrounding those creatures made her smile, as she could already imagine the snarky blond rolling his eyes and insisting that the realities of wizarding world was far better than the imagined world of the muggles.

They’d often spend hours passionately debating silly things such as these: Comparing muggle and wizarding cultures, arguing about authors, discussing movies and song lyrics and so on were now a weekly habit for both of them.

It was a pattern that had started when they returned to Hogwarts to complete their schooling after the war. Draco had sought her out to issue a proper apology, which had been promptly accepted by the witch and since then they started to openly talk and discuss as intellectual rivals, rather than blood enemies.

Incidentally, these weekly debates were also one of her favourites past times. And sure, maybe she started to develop a slight crush on him because of that.

“Did you listen to a single word I just said?” She heard the wizard ask her, and only then she realized that she was lost in her own thoughts. Though she couldn’t quite see in the dark, she felt him raising his eyebrows.

“Not really, no.”

“Just follow me and try not to get killed,” He quipped, taking her hand to enter a hallway to the side of the ballroom. 

To their dismay, there were hundreds of other doors littering the corridor, and any of them could be the one containing her wand and beaded bag. 

“Well, damn it,” They sighed in unison.

\-----

“I found it!” Hermione gasped, pulling her trusted beaded bag from the depths of the fifth drawer of the twentieth cupboard in the fiftieth room they had scoured. 

“Thank Merlin!” Malfoy breathed out, shutting the doors of the wardrobe he had been searching with more force than what he wanted. 

They both recoiled and cringed from the loud thud from the shut doors. Hermione glared at the man, with a silent question playing in her eyes, and he shook his head. 

_ No, of course he didn’t remember to cast the muffliato charm. Why would he? They had already pillaged fifty rooms before that one and they hadn’t made a sound! _

They heard hissing and shouts coming from the other room, soon followed by heavy footsteps and banging of doors that were close by. 

Half a dozen vampires, all tall, haughty, well dressed and menacing-looking stood by the edge of the doorway, with their teeth bare, hissing at the pair. Hermione pulled her wand out of the beaded bag, ready to defend herself, but Malfoy stepped in front of her, straightening himself out and adjusting his stance as the properly trained auror the witch knew he was. 

Hermione rolled her eyes ( _not that he would be able to see her contempt, the dark surely didn’t help in the situation at all_ ) whilst she searched for an alternative way out of that damned room, preferably without having to plow through the large number of blood-thristy creatures.

The blond wizard even had the gall to taunt at the vampires, with a cheeky smile and open arms, as if he was offering himself for the feast. “Surely you’d prefer my brand of blood, after all?”

Instead of accepting the offer and pouncing at the pureblood wizard for a taste of his blood, all the vampires surprisingly gagged, choked and hissed in anger, with hurried shouts. “Don’t let the Malfoy kid sully our precious prey with his repugnant blood!”

“Repugnant?” He parroted, actually offended and stunned by their statement. 

Malfoy huffed in anger, and seemed to be ready to shout something back at the visibly disgusted vampires, but Hermione had already grabbed his arm and dragged him out of the room through a trapdoor she had miraculously found underneath the four-poster bed in the room. 

The auror still managed to stun and hex a few of the more aggressive creatures, before the witch managed to fully close and lock the trapdoor. 

They both moaned in irritation when they realized they had fallen into yet another set of tortuous and narrow stone corridors. Worse yet, the annoying buzz and stings of mosquitos showed that they hadn’t escaped _ those _ tiny vampires either.

“I’m pretty sure I’m related to them! If I were to read all the ancestry logs in my library, I’d find a vampire relative or two,” Malfoy grumbled under his breath, as he walked in a rushed pace, looking for an exit. “So really, they are calling their own blood repugnant!”

“You’re offended because they don’t want to drink your blood? Really?” Hermione snapped, and the wizard hummed in agreement, with his chin held up high, in a semblance of dignity. She slapped another mosquito away from her arm.

“See? Not even the insects want to have a taste of my blood!” He whined, rolling up his sleeves and exposing his toned arms and blue veins. “They are only interested in you!”

“Tough luck, buddy,” She scoffed, glaring at the man.

Malfoy rolled his eyes, and quickened his pace through the pathway, trying to find any unlocked door so that they could at least go back to a less claustrophobic setting. 

After a series of unsuccessful attempts, they managed to find a door leading to a stairway, and allowed themselves a second of celebration, before going upstairs and opening up a giant and golden double door, filled with intricate designs - that Hermione couldn't quite make out because of the darkness.

She pushed the heavy door open and grimaced at the echoing and strangled sound the old hinges of the door. Behind her, Malfoy audibly gasped, making her look up, and widen her eyes.

She could only see hundreds of glowing red eyes and sharp white teeth in the middle of the darkness, but it was enough for her to realize that they had just sauntered into the dining room, packed full of starving vampires. Cries and laughter, praising her _‘_ _ delicious scent _ _’_ and _‘_ _ good blood _ _’_ sent shivers down her spine, as she heard the sound of several chairs being pushed back in a haste.

Malfoy pulled her back into the stairway, throwing several hexes and curses to stall the vampires, descending the stairs with a series of leaps. Soon, they turned back into the mosquito-infested hallway with a groan, and suddenly the blond wizard’s eyes seemed to light up with an idea. 

He turned back, looking at the corridor that was quickly filling up with aggressive vampires, and pointed his wand at them, shouting with a confident voice _ ‘Aedes!’ _ A spellwork Hermione had never seen before, but she could recognize the principle of conjuring animals, much like she had done with her canaries. 

From the tip of his wand, thousands of mosquitoes were conjured, all buzzing and flying towards the mob of vampires that seemed to seethe in anger and confusion, trying to locate their prey, but getting distracted by the sounds of a thousand pesky insects.

“I’m impressed,” Hermione blurted out, while trying to find another unlocked door in that hallway. “But also very annoyed.”

“Why?”  


“Because now I’m being sucked dry by even more mosquitos!” She said while slapping away a particularly annoying insect that dared to pinch her forehead. “By the end of the Equinox, there’s not going to be a single drop of blood left in me!”

“Let them get some of your blood, the diluted scent will confuse the bigger, more menacing blood-suckers,” He bit back, ramming another door open and managing to enter another wide and less confined room. 

Before the woman could be dragged into the room, she turned to look at the vampires out of curiosity and was impressed to see that the wizard’s theory was proved correct. The blind creatures, guided by the scent of her blood, were aimlessly attacking and pouncing the air, supposedly attracted by her scent carried by the small mosquitos, while also cursing the insects for their buzzing and distracting sounds that hindered their abilities of locating their intended prey.

She felt Malfoy’s hand grabbing hers and pulling her into the room, as they ran blindly through the castle’s corridors. 

To the pair’s dismay, there were vampires crawling all over the walls, trying to keep their prey inside their nest, whilst also trying to find a way to banish the  _ repugnant  _ Malfoy blood away from her. For a second, Hermione’s mind stopped to consider that last observation.

The creatures seemed to abhor Malfoy’s scent, in contrast to their fascination with her own. In fact, it looked like the vampires cowered away from the man with grimaces, stopping themselves from pouncing and risking spilling his blood.

“Wait, I have an idea!” She called out and looked at him. “I need you to defile my blood.”

“Excuse me? Right now? This isn’t my ideal setting for foreplay, you know?”

“Not like that!” She flushed, knowing by the way he smirked that the man was merely teasing her. “Merlin, you’re impossible!”

He was still chuckling out loud when she abruptly took her wand and sliced his hand open, letting his blood flow to his palm, soon doing the same cutting of her own palm. 

There were cries of the blood-thirsty creatures coming from behind them, cursing the pungent Malfoy’s blood for ruining their previously sweet and refined prey, but they couldn’t do much before Hermione was already joining her hand with Malfoy’s, letting their blood mingle and mix.

For second, she mused about the chance of the man having some sort of bloodborne disease that she could be getting from the pureblood wizard, but the sight of the vampires backing off into another room, while crying about their lost prey certainly proved that it was worth the risk.

“You know,” Malfoy bent down to whisper in her ear, with a teasing smile, still grasping her hand and running his thumb across the back of her hand with surprising tenderness. “I could marry us with only a couple of bonding spells right now.”

Hermione flushed at the suggestion, looking at their joined hands. But instead of releasing him with a meek and embarrassed yelp, like the man was probably expecting her to do, she simply looked back at him with a mirror of his own smirk. “Well, nothing’s stopping you.”

She was amused to see him flush in turn, perhaps for the first time since their friendship had started. 

He released her hand and cleared his throat, cleaning off both of their injuries with his wand. She thanked him with a smile and looked around the now empty room, certifying that the vampires had left them alone. 

Hermione tried to bury down the slight disappointment she felt for him backing down from his promise of bonding. She knew it was illogical for him to have acted upon their teasing, after all, but she still felt a knot forming in her stomach when he had mentioned it.

“Right, we better get going,” Malfoy blurted out, pointing to the doors that had appeared out of nowhere, in the back of the room. They had probably been summoned by the vampires, silently kicking them out of their opulent mansion.

The heavy doors opened up on their own, revealing the outside world illuminated by the bright pale full moon. 

“Thank Merlin you’re both alright!” Harry greeted the pair just outside the castle, with Ron right behind him, both fully dressed in their auror uniform. 

“We were ready to storm the bloody castle if you two didn’t show up in five minutes!” The ginger bellowed out, looking at his watch.

“I’m so glad to see you two again!” Hermione smiled broadly, hugging both of her friends tightly, while Malfoy hung back, looking at the stone building as if he expected some of the undead to jump out and attack them. 

“Honestly, Malfoy here is the one you should be thanking. If it wasn’t for him nagging us, we may have gotten here too late!” Harry chuckled, patting the taller wizard on his back. 

“How did you know I needed help anyway?” Hermione looked at the blond man, appreciating him fully now that they were no longer surrounded by absolute darkness.

“You were late for Trivia Night,” He shrugged his shoulders with a nonchalant expression in his face, as if he didn’t actually just save her life from a massive horde of vampires. As if he hadn't technically asked her hand in marriage a couple of minutes ago.

“Well, thank you!” Hermione turned to him with a sincere smile, and without even thinking, she approached the man to give him a peck on his cheek, promptly stunning him. Deviously, she decided to add with a whisper in his ear. 

“And though we may not have bonded yet, maybe we should go on a date sometime in the future?”

“Sure,” He replied with a smirk, but his amusement was broken when he saw Hermione batting yet another mosquito away from her arms. He laughed easily at her angry scowls at the flying pests. “But only if we go somewhere with no mosquitoes around.”


End file.
